Goodbyes
by LemonOut1
Summary: One-Shot. Meredith runs into an old friend while at the playground with her children.


AN: It always bothered me a little how Izzie got written out of the show. I understand why it was done that way, but I still wish it was done differently, giving the characters some kind of closure. This fic is set about 3 years in the future. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

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The playground was unusually quiet. It was still early afternoon, after all; most kids were in school or at the day care. Meredith sat on the bench with a baby on her lap and looked at her daughter and her son playing in the jungle gym.

"Be careful, Zozo!" she warned as saw her daughter climb up the slide while her little brother watched in admiration.

The now 6-year-old girl let out a yelp and grinned, waving at her. Meredith clapped and waved back. She never thought kids were part of her plans until she met Derek, and now, looking at them growing so fast right before her eyes, she could not imagine her life without them. She smiled, thinking of how things had turned out. She had a family, something she didn't think she was ever going to have –- at least not in the traditional sense.

Two sandy haired kids, a boy and a girl, who were about Bailey's age running towards her children, pretending to be airplanes interrupted Meredith's thoughts. She noticed Bailey looking at the little girl with curiosity, and smiled when she saw him opening his arms imitating and following her, running around in circles and making funny noises.

"Bailey is already running after girls... This can't be good, Allie," she said at the baby girl she was holding, with a laugh. The little girl responded with a loud squeal and a big smile. "You're all growing up so fast" she continued, as the kid looked at her with her big brown eyes, completely unaware of what she was saying.

A loud cry interrupted the one-way conversation Meredith was having. She looked up, worried, only to see Zola, Bailey, and the young girl standing next to the little airplane boy, who apparently had fallen and was now on the ground, crying, looking at his scraped knees. She saw a woman, who she assumed was the boy's mom running towards him.

"Derek George Stevens! How many times did I tell you not to run like that?" said the woman kneeling down next to her son.

Meredith raised her eyebrows hearing the boy's name. She quickly looked for the first aid kit in her big brown purse and walked towards the woman, still holding the baby girl.

"Here's some sterile gauze, if you need it. I'm a doctor," she offered.

"So am I," said the other woman dismissively, examining the boy's knees.

"Oh, okay. I just wanted to help..." replied Meredith taken aback by the woman's attitude.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sound that bitchy," she apologized finally looking up.

Meredith's eyes widened in surprise as did the other woman's.

"Izzie..." she uttered almost inaudibly.

Izzie's gaze dropped as she cleared her throat.

"Here, let me help you," continued Meredith shaking herself out of the shock seeing her old friend caused. She put the little girl down on the ground, and smiled at Izzie's little boy. "This is going to sting a little, but only for a few seconds, okay?"

The boy nodded, tears still streaming down his face. Meredith smiled and gently cleaned his cuts, and proceeded to apply sterile gauze on them as Izzie watched quietly, still in shock. "All done," she said.

The boy gave her a small smile, then looked at his mom.

"Say thank you to the nice lady, Derek," Izzie finally managed to say.

"Thank you," the boy shyly whispered.

"Thank you, Meredith," Izzie smiled.

"You are both very welcome," replied Meredith putting her first aid kit back into her bag.

"Mommy, can I go play?" asked Zola giving her mom a quick hug.

"Of course, Zozo. But be careful, okay?" she replied hugging her back.

The little girl nodded and ran back to the jungle gym, followed by Bailey.

"Can we go, too, mom?" asked the little boy looking back and forth between his twin sister and Izzie, the scrapes on his knees already forgotten.

"Yes, but no running," answered Izzie.

Meredith smiled at the two kids, gathered her stuff from the ground, and walked back to the bench she was previously sitting on, followed by Izzie.

"You're a mom," stated Izzie sitting down.

"So are you," Meredith replied, placing the baby girl back in her stroller. "Twins, huh? Must be a handful."

"Yes, they are a handful. But they're the best thing that ever happened to me…" she proudly replied the blonde woman. "And look at you… Three kids?" Izzie asked smiling at the little girl.

Meredith shook her head and explained. "No, just two. She's… She's Alex's daughter; my goddaughter. I'm babysitting."

Izzie's gaze dropped to the floor. "She's beautiful. She's a beautiful baby," she said forcing a smile.

"She is," nodded Meredith looking at the little girl proudly.

"I come to this park all the time. I can't believe I've never seen you here," said Izzie, trying to change the subject.

"I don't live in Seattle anymore. Derek and I moved to New York two years ago," explained Meredith. "I'm just in town for a wedding."

"Wow, New York…" muttered Izzie.

"Derek's mom wasn't doing too well, so we decided to move to the East Coast for a while, at least until she gets better," said Meredith with a sigh. "It was a big adjustment, but working at New York Pres is great."

Izzie nodded understandingly.

"Where did you finish your residency?" asked Meredith taking a sippy cup with juice from her purse and handing it to Allie.

"Tacoma," replied Izzie. "I decided to leave surgery and do my residency in internal medicine and now I'm halfway through my oncology fellowship at UW."

Meredith clenched the strolled handle and cleared her troath. "You've been living half an hour away this whole time."

Izzie closed her eyes and sighed. "Mer…"

Meredith let out a sharp breath.

"You're mad at me. I get it. I'd be mad, too," Izzie continued. "I'm sorry I left like that, and I'm sorry I said what I said."

"I'm not mad at you," stated Meredith rather coldly, shrugging her shoulders, her attitude towards the other woman now completely changed.

"I often thought about you. About all of you," said Izzie with a shaky voice.

Meredith didn't respond.

"I had to start a new life on my own, without my friends..." she continued.

"Well, I seem to remember you said we were nothing more than your colleagues. It must have not been that hard to replace us," reacted Meredith raising her voice and interrupting her former friend, causing the little girl to start crying.

She picked her up, rocking and soothing her. "I'm sorry Allie. I didn't mean to scare you." The baby calmed down quickly, tightly holding on to Meredith.

"Mer... You know I didn't mean that. I was hurt. Danny died, then the cancer happened, then that bus killed George, and Alex left me... It was too much. I lost too much." uttered Izzie.

Meredith shook her head, placed Allie back in her stroller, and looked at her children who were still playing in the jungle gym, now pretending to be pirates. Then she looked at Izzie. "You left. You quit." she said with a calm and cold tone.

"I wanted to call. When I heard about the shooting on the news... and the plane crash. I wanted to call," Izzie said almost in tears.

Meredith closed her eyes and took a deep breath thinking of those fatal occurrences that had shaken her world so irreparably. "Don't."

"I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you get through it," she said turning around to look at her former roommate.

Meredith tried to keep her cool and took a deep breath. "Derek and Alex got shot, Izzie. And Lexie and Mark died; my sister died. Your apology means nothing."

"I'm not asking for things to go back the way they were, but I need you to at least forgive me, Meredith," pleaded Izzie. "We were like family."

Meredith pondered Izzie's words and took a deep breath. Right as she was about to say something, her phone started ringing, startling her.

"Hello?" she said picking up.

Izzie looked at Meredith, who was busy taking a notebook from her purse and going through the ink filled pages, looking for something.

"Yes, it's under control. Cristina's flight is arriving at 2 PM. Callie and I are picking her up," Meredith continued talking on her phone.

Izzie smiled melancholically, hearing Cristina's name.

"Allie's fine. We're at the park and we'll be heading home soon so Derek can get the kids ready for the rehearsal dinner," Meredith said with a reassuring tone. "Yes, Jo is at the hairstylist. I told you, I got everything under control!"

Meredith hung up smiling. Then she remembered she was sitting right next to Izzie and cleared he throat.

"Alex is getting married, huh?" asked Izzie as a statement more than a real question.

"He is. He's happy now," nodded Meredith.

"Good. Good, he deserves it," said Izzie with a sad smile.

Meredith looked at her old friend, many memories of their days as interns coming back to her. She then looked at her watch and stood up.

"Zola! Bailey! Time to go! We have to pick up aunt Cristina at the airport!"

The two kids ran happily towards Meredith.

"Can I sit next to Allie in the car? We have to finish watching Finding Nemo," said Zola looking at her mom with her big brown eyes.

"Of course, honey. Now go wash yours and your brother's hands," replied Meredith as the two kids ran towards the fountain.

Izzie smiled at the exchange.

Meredith gathered her stuff, and looked around, making sure she wasn't leaving anything behind, then she turned towards Izzie.

"Izzie…" she said with a friendly tone, "I wish things went differently."

"Me, too, Mer. Me, too," she sighed.

"For what it's worth, I forgive you," Meredith said understandingly.

Izzie nodded, appreciating her former friend's effort.

Zola and Bailey got back running. "Are we going now, mom?" Zola asked.

"Yes, we are. Wave goodbye to your new friends," she said pointing at Izzie's children. The two kids obediently did.

"Well…" started Meredith looking at her former friend.

"I named him Derek," Izzie interrupted her.

Meredith gave her a confused look.

"The twins. Derek and Cristina; after the two people who saved my life…" Izzie explained.

Meredith looked at the two children who were now building a sand castle, and smiled genuinely, allowing herself to miss the friendship she had shared with the woman standing next to her.

"Take care, Izzie," she said hugging the blonde woman, a tear escaping from her eye.

"You, too, Meredith," she replied.


End file.
